Tag Archives: Sufism

Naz Khialvi (1947-2010, real name: Muhammad Siddique) was a Pakistani poet and radio broadcaster from near the city of Faisalabad, most famous for his poem “Tum Ik Gorakh Dhanda Ho”. This philosophically and spiritually rich text explores the paradoxes of religion like the prevalence of evil and injustice, selective divine intervention, and other indecipherable aspects of God. The poem also points toward the unity of human religious experiences. At the end, after listing his grievances, the bewildered poet ultimately accepts divine incomprehensibility.

In the sense that “Tum Ik Gorakh Dhanda Ho” is a complaint to God, it is thematically similar to Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s famous “Shikwa”. Like Iqbal, Naz expresses a sense of frustration and wonder towards God. At the same time, this poem would still be considered a hamd, or praise of God. It is worth mentioning that “Tum Ik Gorakh Dhanda Ho” is full of references to prophets, Sufi saints, and Punjabi folk heros. For example, Naz references Mansoor al-Hallaj, a Persian mystic who was executed in the tenth century for saying “I am the truth!” Naz also includes the story of Joseph – referring to him with a rare title, “Maah-e-Kanaan”, meaning “The Moon of Canaan”. Another reference is to the story of Laila and Majnoon, in which Qais becomes a madman (“Majnoon”) for the rest of his life after Laila’s father refuses to let them marry.

See below for videos of Naz Khialvi reciting the poem and of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997) performing it. In my translation below, I have used the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan version. Because NFAK inserts extra lines of poetry into the qawwali, I have tried to delineate which parts are from Naz’s original work and which are asides.

In no particular order, here is my list of the top five versions of the qawwali “Tajdar-e-Haram”. You can find my full translation of the poetry here. The original by the Sabri Brothers is obviously very hard to match, but I think others have also done justice to it. Post any more versions of “Tajdar-e-Haram” that you enjoy in the comments!

1. The Timeless Original by the Sabri Brothers

Highlights: The original is always the original, and here the Sabri Brothers are at their best. The two brothers’ voices are very distinct and complementary. They show their musical mastery in this qawwali by repeatedly varying the pace and volume, taking listeners on a journey.

2. The Second Generation by Amjad Sabri & Shahi Hasan

Highlights: Amjad Sabri ventures out of traditional qawwali in this soulful collaboration with Shahi Hasan. It’s an amazing composition in its own right, with lots of overlapping vocal tracks, and the female background vocals at the beginning are really mesmerizing.

3. The Coke Studio Rendition by Atif Aslam (2015)

Highlights: Atif’s Coke Studio version is also not traditional qawwali, but it includes a wider array of instruments that enhance the song. At times, the emotion in his unique voice really comes through.

4. The Indian Masters’ Version by Sonu Nigam & Sukhwinder Singh (1992)

Highlights: This is a really cool (and rare) rendition by two of Bollywood’s most famous singers, Sonu Nigam and Sukhwinder Singh. While not focusing on the raw and spontaneous nature of traditional qawwali, this version lets their amazing, highly-trained voices shine.

5. The Thunderous Tribute by Fareed Ayaz & Abu Muhammad (2016)

Highlights: Fareed Ayaz & Abu Muhammad paid tribute to the Sabri Brothers and Amjad Sabri through a more traditional performance. This version is loud and powerful, with excellent percussion (check out the vocals at 0:49 and the change in beat at 17:58).

“Balaghal-Ula Bi-Kamalihi” is a popular qawwali most famously performed by the late Sabri Brothers, Ghulam Farid Sabri (1930-1994) and Maqbool Ahmed Sabri (1945-2011), from Pakistan. It is a multilingual naat (praise of the prophet Muhammad) that centers around a famous Arabic quatrain (rubai) by the Persian poet Saadi Shirazi (1210-1292). The four-line poem is dispersed between several verses of Urdu and Persian poetry from sources that I have been unable to identify. If anyone recognizes any of the poets whose verses show up in this qawwali, your contribution would be appreciated. Any corrections or improvements would also be appreciated.

The main poem is: “Balaghal-ula bi-kamaalihi / Kashafad-duja bi-jamaalihi / Hasunat jameeu khisaalihi / Sallu alaihi wa aalihi”. (This is in Arabic, but in the translation I do not repeatedly identify it as such because of how spread out it is.) Much of the rest of the qawwali focuses on the story of the “miraj” (“ascension”), an event in Muhammad’s lifetime during which he is said to have ascended to heaven and beyond (to the Placeless Origin to visit the throne of God) on a winged creature named Buraq. The entire trip is said to have occurred in one night. According to some scholars of literature, this story partially inspired the Italian poet Dante’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy.

In the Urdu verses of this qawwali, we see how the monumental meeting between God and Muhammad is metaphorically framed as a meeting between lovers. For example, God summons Muhammad because “He longed to see him”. This metaphor is used to elucidate the common Sufi themes of separation and union, in which the separation of every being from God is a burden, whereas the ultimate goal is union and becoming one with God.

کوئی حد ہے اُن کے عروج کی
koi had hai un ke urooj ki
Is there any limit to his ascent?
بَلَغَ الْعُلا بِكَمالِهِ
balaghal-ula bi-kamaalihi
He reached the highest place through his perfection

یہی ابتدا یہی انتہا
yahi ibtida yahi intiha
This is the beginning, and this is the end
یہ فروغ جلوۂ حق نما
ye farogh jalwa-e-haq-numa
This brightness is the manifestation of the truth-revealer
کہ جہان سارا چمک اٹھا
ke jahaan saara chamak utha
Such that the entire world rose shining
كَشَفَ الْدُّجىٰ بِجَمالِهِ
kashafad-duja bi-jamaalihi
He drove out the darkness through his beauty

“Tajdar-e-Haram” is a popular qawwali most famously performed by the late Sabri Brothers, Ghulam Farid Sabri (1930-1994) and Maqbool Ahmed Sabri (1945-2011), from Pakistan. The titular Urdu poem was written by Purnam Allahabadi (-2009), a prolific Urdu poet, who moved to Pakistan from Allahabad, India after the 1947 partition. It is important to note, however, that the long version by the Sabri Brothers that is translated here includes many interesting elements, in multiple languages, from several authors.

This qawwali would fall under the category of naat (praise of the prophet Muhammad), since it serves as a plea to Muhammad to bestow his mercy on the needy. Excerpts from quiet a few naats are recited by the Sabri Brothers. The primary one that they repeatedly return to, of course, is “Tajdar-e-Haram” by Purnam Allahabadi. Another Urdu naat is by the famous Pakistani poet, Muzaffar Warsi (1933-2011), who also wrote the hamd (praise of God) titled “Wohi Khuda Hai”. Plus, a Persian line from the poem “Marhaba Sayyidi Makki Madani” by Muhammad Jaan Qudsi Mashhadi (-1646), the poet laureate of the Mughal Empire under Shah Jahan, is also recited.

Continuing with naats, the opening and another section are by Maulana Jami (1414-1492), a Sufi theologian and poet from modern-day Afghanistan. There are also a few lines in Arabic from a poem written by Zain al-Abideen (659-713), a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and the fourth Shia imam. Like Purnam’s poem, these two excerpts involve a hapless person asking the morning breeze (“Saba”) to carry his message seeking forgiveness to Muhammad’s tomb in Madinah.

The Sabri Brothers also recite a few excerpts from “Zihaal-e-Miskeen”, a celebrated poem by Ameer Khusro (1253-1325), who was a Sufi disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya and the father of qawwali. Interestingly, “Zihaal-e-Miskeen” alternates languages, with one line in Persian followed by one line in Braj Bhasha (a dialect of Hindi-Urdu). Furthermore, another part of this qawwali is possibly from a Purbi poem by Bhai Mardana (1459–1534), a companion of Guru Nanak. Both of these excerpts follow the Sufi theme of a person lamenting their separation from their beloved, who in the context of this qawwali is Muhammad.

Since this qawwali is so complex, I have done my best to indicate the language and author of each section wherever I could. I’d like to thank Ammar Kalimullah for helping with some of the more difficult parts of the translation. Any corrections or improvements would be appreciated.

A few notes that might help in understanding this qawwali:

* Taajdaar-e-Haram, Mustafa, Mujtaba, Sayyid, Tayyib, Saaqi-e-Kausar, Aaqa, and Arab ke Kunwar are all different names and titles used to address Muhammad.

* In Sufi poetry, concepts related to wine are often used metaphorically. In “Tajdar-e-Haram”, the wine drinkers being called to Madinah are those who are intoxicated by a divine love for the prophet Muhammad and for God. The prophet acts as a wine-pourer, i.e. as the guide facilitating a close relationship with the divine. Specifically, he is mentioned as the wine-pourer of Kausar (or Kawthar). Kausar is a body of water (sometimes called a “lake-fount”) in heaven that was promised to Muhammad in a Qur’anic revelation. In this poem, when he fills the cups of his followers with drink, he is replenishing their spirituality.

* The daaman that is filled refers to a concept similar to that of the jholi in “Bhar Do Jholi”. Literally, a daaman would be the hem of a long South Asian garment. Folding up and holding one’s daaman to form a sort of pouch is a way of begging for money. Since Muhammad is believed to have been generous to the poor, this qawwali mentions how he fills up the daaman of all those who come to his door. At the same time, the other meaning is that everyone is metaphorically a beggar asking for and receiving the prophet’s alms, i.e. his forgiveness.

This Urdu ghazal was penned by the Pakistani poet Fana Buland Shehri and performed as a qawwali by the great Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (1948-1997). I could not find much online about the poet’s life, but quite a few famous qawwalis are attributed to him. Although “Mere Rashk-e-Qamar” is not as famous as other qawwalis performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, in my opinion it is one of the most poetic and powerful ones.

* Note on the takhallus: The takhallus (Urdu: تخلص) is the pen name adopted by a poet in Urdu, and is usually incorporated into his/her poems near the end. It often has a double meaning as both a name and as a word. Fana Buland Shehri included his takhallus in this qawwali when he says, “ae Fana shukar hai aaj baad-e-fana, us ne rakhli mere pyaar ki aabroo”. Fana is the author’s name, but it also means “annihilation”. This adds another meaning to that line: “O annihilation (death), today I am grateful that after my demise, she has maintained the honor of my love”.

Sufi devotional music has long and rich history in South Asia. One of its major forms is qawwali (Urdu: قوالی), which originated at the shrines of Sufi saints centuries ago. The content of qawwalis is either religious or romantic poetry (or both, as per the Sufi influence). Those who sing qawwali are known as qawwals. A party of qawwals includes a lead singer (or two), accompanied by side singers, clappers, a harmonium or two, and tabla and dholak drums. Qawwali songs are traditionally very long, as they involve a lot of repetition of lyrics. They often begin slowly and increase in energy gradually. The singing of notes instead of words, sargam (Urdu: سرگم), is usually intertwined with the lyrics of the composition. Overall, qawwali is a mystical and hypnotic kind of music that can be spiritually awakening. It appeals to many people, and one need not be religious to appreciate it.

“Bhar Do Jholi” is a popular qawwali most famously performed by the late Sabri Brothers, Ghulam Farid Sabri (1930-1994) and Maqbool Ahmed Sabri (1945-2011), from Pakistan. It was written by Purnam Allahabadi and is mainly a praise of the Prophet Muhammad (naat), though also of his companion Bilal and his grandson Hussein. Purnam Allahabadi (-2009) was the pen name of Mohammed Musa, a prolific Urdu poet, although the performers of his work have gained more fame than he has for it. “Bhar Do Jholi” was published in his book Phool Dekhe Na Gaye (I Could Not Look at Flowers), which you canread online here on Rekhta (it starts on page 21).

The poet/singer of this qawwali takes on the role of a beggar, coming to ask the Prophet Muhammad for food and/or money. Yet, this is only the surface meaning; he is not only begging for physical sustenance but for spiritual sustenance and redemption as well. I have translated the title phrase “bhar do jholi” as “fill my bag”, but that does not convey the meaning totally accurately. Here, “bag” refers to the lower portion of one’s upper garment that beggars fold upward from the bottom corners and hold to fill it with change. So, the narrator of the song is extending his garment out in front of Muhammad to metaphorically have it filled. He also sings in praise of the grandson of Muhammad, Hussein, who was martyred by the tyrant Yazid at the Battle of Karbala. Near the end, he praises Bilal, an Ethiopian slave who was freed by Muhammad’s friend, Abu Bakr, and was chosen by Muhammad to recite the adhan, which is the Islamic call to prayer.

* Note on names: Mustafa is another name for Muhammad, and Murtaza is another name for Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law. The son of Murtaza mentioned, also Muhammad’s grandson, is Hussein. Shabbir is another name for Hussein. Hazrat is an Islamic honorific title used for prophets, saints, and other important religious figures.

* Note on the takhallus: The takhallus (Urdu: تخلص) is the pen name adopted by a poet in Urdu, and is usually incorporated into his/her poems near the end. It often has a double meaning as both a name and as a word. Purnam Allahabadi included his takhallus in this qawwali when he says, “kaash Purnam dayaar-e-nabi mein jeete ji ho bulaawa kisi din”. Purnam is the author’s name, but it also means “tearfully” or “weeping”. This adds another meaning to that line: “If only I may be summoned to the land of the Prophet someday in my life, weeping [from being overwhelmed]”.